Aspiring sports writer and Year 10 pupil Jamie McCabe got an inside view of his dream job when he invited one of the nation’s leading journalists Oliver Holt to give a talk at The King’s School, Macclesfield.

The 15-year-old from Over Alderley said: “It’s my absolute dream job to go to the best sports stadiums in the world and be paid for watching and writing about great sport. Me and many of my friends think what could possibly be better, so I invited Mr Holt to come and talk to us and tell us what it is really like.”

Former King’s pupil Oliver Holt, who left the top Macclesfield school to study History at Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1984, was the first to agree.

“You are certainly not wrong,” he replied, “It’s always been my dream job and I still consider myself to be very lucky today. I get to go the World Cup every four years and I go to Wimbledon every year. I’ve covered the Olympics, the Masters Golf and Formula One all over the world and it’s been fantastic and it still is.”

After Oxford University, Oliver completed a post graduate one year course in journalism at Cardiff before starting as a news reporter on the Liverpool Echo.

However, he never forgot his great passion: “As a kid I’d go to 80 or 90 football games a season. Stockport County were my team and are still today, but I’d go to all the City and United games I could get to as well.”

“So when I was on the Echo I asked if I could cover some sport and they let me cover Tranmere in the lower leagues on my days off. That’s how it started.”

After three years he moved to The Times as Motor Racing Correspondent before graduating to Chief Football Writer in 1996 in time to cover England’s hosting of the Euro Championships, and then to Chief Sports Correspondent in 2000.  He joined the Daily Mirror in 2002 as the Chief Sports Writer, and in 2015, he replaced the legendary Patrick Collins at The Mail on Sunday.  He was also a regular guest on the Sunday Supplement, among the elite of the press box airing their personal views for Sky’s Sunday morning magazine.

Taking questions from a large audience of pupils and staff, Oliver remembered his most impressive name check of those he had interviewed was not actually a sportsperson. “I covered Formula One in my early years and I interviewed the Hollywood legend Paul Newman, who was an Indycar team owner and that was pretty impressive, but of the sports people I have known, I am really glad to have had dinner with Wayne Rooney a few times. If anything his achievements on the field have been undervalued. As a young lad from Liverpool, he coped with the intense pressure he faced very well and now he has the makings of a pretty decent manager too.”

He then told the young men and women that journalism had changed dramatically in the 30 years he had been a reporter. “The internet means you are always on duty. We used to file our copy once day, but now with the online presence you have to be ready all the time.”

He was also very optimistic about the state of British sport and, in particular, the development of women’s team sports. “The achievement of the Lionesses was remarkable, wonderful for the country and young women in particular and all part of the democratisation of British sport.

“Also when I started, who would have thought we would have had British winners of the Tour de France or that a British man would win Wimbledon, plus, of course, now we have the Premier League, which is the best football league in the World.”

He had one final piece of advice for a young person trying to make their way in his profession. “Be persistent, don’t give up. If someone writes to me once, I’ll probably ignore it. If they do it twice, I’ll still probably ignore it but on the third time there’s fair chance I’ll reply.”

Jamie, who had put together a slide show of some of the events Oliver had covered and who was master of ceremonies for the Q & A session, had the last word, “It is just as I thought, sports journalism seems to be everything I have ever dreamed of and even more, if that is possible.”

David Lewis is one of the largest care providers in Cheshire who offer education, residential, medical, and therapeutic support for people with learning disabilities, epilepsy, autism and other complex support needs. Thanks to AstraZeneca’s generosity, hundreds of people who use their specialist facilities benefit from the thousands of hours donated in 2022.

Through their support with David Lewis, AstraZeneca has helped the charity complete a vast amount of projects that unlock spaces for inclusion and equal opportunities for children, young people and adults supported by the charity. David Lewis offers several services that aim to engage individuals with nature, farming, animals, conservation, horticulture woodcraft and sensory experiences, intended to help develop individuals knowledge, skills, increase independence and provide opportunities to be part of a team in a supportive environment.

Kirrie Todd, Head of Communications at AstraZeneca Macclesfield said, “Our employee volunteering programme is an incredible opportunity for our company to give back to the community in a meaningful way.

Part of our strategy is to be a great place to work, with a focus on inclusion and diversity. Employee Volunteering linked us with David Lewis which enabled our employees to support a cause they are really passionate about. It’s been a great way to contribute towards life changing projects and facilitate fun and inspiring team building activities.”

John Heritage, Chief Executive at David Lewis commented, “We are so proud to be supported by great companies like AstraZeneca. We are so grateful for AstraZeneca’s support with their employees volunteering their time to support our work and in such a practical way. 

We have pledged to plant over 1 million bulbs and over 9000 trees across our 200 acres of land in March this year. This will reduce our carbon footprint in line with our aspirations around environment and sustainability and this project will provide another great opportunity for us to connect with local businesses who are looking to make an impact in their community.”

AstraZeneca employees rolled up their sleeves tidying up allotments, weeding, painting fences, residential homes, animal paddocks and laying slabs to name a few.

The charity is keen to hear from any local organisations looking to benefit their communities through fundraising and volunteering, email enquries@davidlewis.org.uk to find out how you can get involved in future projects.

Long standing proposals for a 20mph zone and traffic calming features are underway in Alderley Edge Village centre and the surrounding area which will help to reduce unsafe speeds in the area.

The works started on 23 January and have already seen the resurfacing and relining of London Road.

Completing on 5 March 2023 at London Road, the scheme will see the installation of new signage, surface treatments, kerbing works and road markings. Raised road surfaces on and near pedestrian crossings will also be installed in key places throughout the village, and in some locations in the surrounding area, including schools.

More information on the works can be found here and on the Cheshire East Highways Twitter account as works progress.

The King’s Senior School production of ‘Bleak Expectations’ was a glorious celebration of English humour. Anything but bleak, the show was full of brilliant bravado and masterful comic interludes.

Directed by Donald Forbes and Olivia Soutter, the riotous plot proved the perfect vehicle for the young thespians to test their dramatic range. With a more than a satirical nod to Dickens’ tendency towards the melodramatic, the show was part Goons and part Monty Python with a liberal sprinkle of Ricky Gervais.

The production starring King’s talented young thespians aged from Year 7 up to Year 13 was a glorious Dickens pastiche and played to packed audiences over a fabulous four night run. Adapted from the classic Radio 4 series, this Fifties style farce shamelessly mixed and matched renowned Dickensian scenarios to somehow form a coherent and self-consciously comic plot, with the audiences loving the caricatures that have become part of the fabric of British culture.

Narrator Sam Harman as Sir Philip Bin, masterfully held the threads together as he remembered his younger days with a mix of nostalgia and delusion. The inventor of the FlipBin, he reminisced about thwarting the malevolent Gently Benevolent played with menacing evil intent by Sixth Former Yussi Hill. So convincing were the performances that one could almost hear the dramatic silent movie style musical accompaniment.

Will Gandy as the romantic lead Pip, takes the brick bats and bruising with aplomb, showing us his character’s learning curve of maturity while playing the part with both savoir faire and fun. There was cast of fabulous cameos with Kirat Kahlon, only in Year 7, playing monster Headmaster Wackwell Hardthrasher with a gusto belying her tender years. Surely not based on today’s Head, Mr Jason Slack, her portrayal was a laughter-filled but nonetheless withering reminder of what schooling meant to previous generations, lurching from one fearful scenario to the next.

As Director and King’s Head of Drama, Donald Forbes, said: “We know this will be the first of many wonderful performances on the King’s stage from this little star.”

Older students Ben O’Donnell, Annabelle Jordan and Phoebe Harrison graced the stage in this audacious production, with confidence, charisma and gusto, showing that the more a young performer is given the chance to perform, the more they will relish the challenge.

Never so true as when the raucous chorus entered the scenes; a fully committed group of young pupils who tackled the roles of flying skunks, starving boarding school pupils and puppet jury members with great discipline and mirthful credibility.

We are delighted to inform members of North Cheshire Chamber of Commerce that the Chamber has joined forces with Harts Chartered Accountants and Orbit Developments as sponsors of the quarterly The Business Club lunches for 2023.

The very popular, business-focused networking events will take place throughout the year at Hollin House Hotel in Bollington.

Terry Hayward, CEO of North Cheshire Chamber said, “we have been considering adding some lunchtime events to our events calendar for some time and this was too good an opportunity to pass up.  The diversity of the attendees and the quality of the speakers that The Business Club attracts made this a very easy decision and it will compliment the breakfast and evening business events that we already run.  I look forward to working with Harts and Orbit to develop and grow the Club.”

Event dates for 2023 are:

• Wednesday 22^nd March
• Wednesday 21^st June
• Wednesday 20^th September
• Wednesday 22^nd November

The format of meeting at 11.45 for informal networking followed by a key speaker, plus two spotlight speakers and a two-course lunch will remain the same as 2022.

To book your place at the event in March please click here.

We look forward to seeing you at an event soon and in the meantime, do join us on LinkedIn in the dedicated The Business Club group